Toggle-actuated plier-type wrench



Oct. 10, 1950 D. R. ALBRECHT 2,525,630

TOGGLE-ACTUATED PLIER-TYPE WRENCH Filed Aug. 20, 1946 Z0 g3 17 17 2 INVENTOR.

ii. alzwczz Patented Oct. 10, 1950 TOGGLE-ACTUATED PLIER-TYPE WRENCH Donald R. Albrecht, Binghamton, N. Y., assignor to B. M. 0. Manufacturing Corporation, Binghamton, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 20, 1946, Serial No. 691,710

1 Claim.

This invention relates to wrenches, and more particularly to those of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,388,580, dated November 6, 1945, and issued to F. A. ISnell.

In that patent is shown a wrench in which a movable jaw is brought to a parallel clamping relation with a fixed jaw, regardless of the spacing of the jaws, by movement Of an actuating handle, and the present invention contemplates a construction by means of which similar results are obtained. The present invention relates to improvements in the type of wrench referred to, and it contemplates the provision of a simple, sturdy mechanism by means of which a movable jaw may be set at a selected distance from a fixed jaw in order to grip an object of given size, and by means of which said object may be firmly clamped between the jaws by movement of the actuating handle.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a structure of this character in which the number of parts employed is materially reduced; no springs are required, and the parts employed are of substantial size and strength, thus resulting in a wrench which is entirely reliable and unlikely to get out of order despite the hard use which a tool of this character is generally given. I

These and other objects are attained by the invention, a more particular description of which will be hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed, Fig. l is a, side elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance with the invention, the jaws being shown in closed position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the wrench in a partly open position, with one of the face plates of the frame removed to show the operating parts; Fig. 3 is an edge View of the wrench as seen from the left side of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawing, the frame 01 the wrench is generally indicated at I, the same including a pair of similarly-shaped, spaced-apart sidemembers or face plates 2 and 3. For a portion of 7 their length, the face plates 2 and 3 are each provided at their rear with an inturned flange, that provided on the face plate 2 being indicated at 5, and that on the face plate 3 being shown at 4. With this arrangement the rear of the frame I is closed at the back for a'portion of its length, and particularly throughout the handle cated at II].

portion indicated at B. At its end remote from the handle portion 6, the frame I is formed with the fixed jaw I, in which an insert 8 is located, said insert constituting a spacing member between the face plates 2 and 3 and being held in position by the rivets 9 or equivalent fastening elements. The spacing member 8, constituting the body of the fixed jaw, co-operates with rivet II and with pivot pins I I and I2 to be described, in maintaining the face plates 2 and 3 in properly spaced relation to provide a rigid and sturdy frame of U-shape or channel shape, as' clearly seen in Fig. 4. A serrated or roughened gripping face I3 may be provided on the jaw insert 8.

The movable jaw is shown at I4, the same being of substantially bell-crank form, and having the head portion I5, formed with the gripping face I5, and pivotally connected at one point between the ends of a pair of companion links IT, as indi- At their opposite ends, the companion links I! are pivotally attached to the frame on the pivot pin I2 which extends between the face plates 2 and 3 of the frame, as previously explained.

Near its outer end, the movable jaw I4 is pivoted at I9 between the walls of a channel-shaped actuating handle 20. At 'ZI is shown a link which has one end pivoted, at 22 between the walls of the handle 2!] and its opposite end is pivoted on the pivot pin I I extending between the face plates 2 and 3 of the frame. I

The adjusting means for the movable jaw includes an adjusting screw '23, which may be composed of relatively flat stock to enable it to move freely and adjustably between the face plates 2 and 3 of the frame. Said adjusting screw has one end pivoted at 24 between the companion links H as clearly seen in Fig. 2, and it is threadably engaged by an adjusting nut 25 located in the apertures 26 provided in the face plates 2 and 3 said nut projecting beyond the f ace plates as clearly seen in Fig. 3 to enable it to be engaged by the fingers and rotated to adjust the position of the movable jaw I4. It will be observed that the flanges 4 and 5 of the face plates of the frame are omitted in the upper portion of the frame I, as shown at 21, to allow the adjusting screw 23 to project out of the back of the frame when the jaws are in closed position as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be seen from the structure described, that when the actuating handle 2i) is moved toward the fixed handle portion 8 of the frame I, it will cause the movable jaw, through the arrangement of linkage described, to swing toward the fixed jaw 1 to an extent determined by the angular position of link I! which is controlled by the position of the adjusting screw 23. The movable jaw will assume a position of parallelism to the fixed jaw when the movable jaw reaches the limit of its inward swing and then, when pivot pin 22 passes the over-center position, the parts will be locked in close clamping relation with any object to be grasped between the jaws. Extending through the link 2| is a stud 28 which has parts extending laterally to act as a stop tolimit the inward movement of the actuating lever 20.

When releasing the object by swinging the handle 26 outwardly, or to the position shown in Fig. '2, and beyond, link 2i will swing outwardly and the handle will swing the movable jaw about its pivot IE to thus bring the movable jaw to an angular position, as shown in Fig. 2, and at once permitting the release of the object then located between the jaws.

In the construction described, it will be noted that the use of springs is avoided; that the adjustment of the movable jaw to the fixed jaw is secured by screw-thread means, allowing an accurate and precise setting of the jaws, and that the number of parts employed, as well as the shape and nature of the same is such that a sturdy and rugged structure results.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim,

What I claim is:

In a tool of the character described, a frame including a handle portion and two face plates, a fixed jaw mounted between the face plates, a movable jaw located in the frame between the face plates, an actuating handle having one end pivotally attached to the movable jaw, a link having one end pivotally attached to the actuating handle and its other end pivotally attached to the frame, stopmeans on said link intermediate of the ends of the link for limiting inward swing of the actuating handle, a link located within the frame and having one end pivoted between the face plates of said frame and its other end pivotally attached to the movable jaw, an adjusting screw extending transversely of the frame and pivotally attached directly at one end to the last-mentioned link at a point between the pivots which respectively attach said link to the movable jaw and to the frame, said adjusting screw being located between the face plates of the frame and extending toward the rear thereof, and a nut through which the adjusting screw is adjustable.

DONALD R. ALBRECHT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,208,694 Swickard Dec. 12, 1916 1,874,817 Shook Aug. 30, 1932 2,299,454 Borchers Oct. 26, 1942 2,388,580 Snell Nov. 6, 1945 2,392,209 Clemens Apr. 9, 1946 2,399,454 Snell 1 Apr. 30, 1946 2,420,020 Snell May 6, 194: 2,428,949 Ward et al. Oct. 14, 1947 2,436,497 Snell Feb. 24,1948 2,454,472 Ward et al. Mar. 15, 1949 2,478,728 ward et al Aug. 9, 1949 

